The 1980 season

Typhoon Sperry (1980)

Typhoon Sperry reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 12, 1980 and September 24, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Sperry, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
September 12, 1980 to September 24, 1980
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 389 km (242 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.4
Identifier
WP201980

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 12, 06:0010.1N 153.7E15 ktMixed
Sep 12, 12:0010.5N 153.1E15 ktMixed
Sep 12, 18:0011.1N 152.6E20 ktMixed
Sep 13, 00:0012.2N 152.5E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0013.2N 152.8E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0014.2N 152.7E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0015.1N 152.4E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0016.0N 152.0E25 ktMixed
Sep 14, 06:0017.1N 151.2E25 ktMixed
Sep 14, 12:0018.3N 150.3E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0019.3N 149.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0020.0N 147.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0020.6N 145.8E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0021.1N 144.2E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0021.6N 142.5E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0022.2N 141.0E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0022.9N 139.6E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0023.7N 138.3E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0024.7N 137.1E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0025.8N 136.4E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0027.2N 136.0E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0028.5N 136.2E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0029.6N 136.9E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0030.3N 137.8E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0030.7N 138.7E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0030.9N 140.0E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0031.1N 141.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0031.2N 142.4E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0031.3N 143.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0031.2N 144.7E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0030.9N 145.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0030.6N 146.7E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0030.6N 147.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0031.2N 148.3E45 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 20, 18:0031.8N 148.9E45 kt994 mbMixed
Sep 21, 00:0032.5N 149.4E40 kt996 mbMixed
Sep 21, 06:0033.1N 149.9E40 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 21, 12:0033.6N 150.6E40 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 21, 18:0034.0N 151.4E35 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 22, 00:0034.3N 152.3E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 22, 06:0034.0N 152.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0036.0N 155.0E1010 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0037.7N 157.7E1012 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0039.0N 161.0E1012 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0039.4N 165.1E1012 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0039.8N 168.5E1012 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0039.9N 171.4E1012 mbExtratropical
Sep 24, 00:0041.0N 175.0E1012 mbExtratropical
Sep 24, 06:0041.0N 178.5E1012 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1980

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.